Home Band Members Pics MP3s Videos Gigs Songs Store Booking Info News Promo

Andy "Puppy" Howe

Lead and Rhythm Ukulele, 4-String Tenor Guitar, Mandolin, Harp, Lead and Harmony vocals 865-640-5704 FrostBottomBoys@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/AndyHowe93 Visit my personal web page full of cool stuff for musical gear-heads

I've mostly been a lead vocalist in my previous bands, but I visited friends on the big island of Hawaii a while back, picked up a baritone ukulele in Kona, and I've been playing the instrument ever since! I taught myself enough guitar in college to allow me to write Songs, but very rarely played it in the bands I was in, then or since. But for some reason, the ukulele, with it's four strings and wide string spacing, and bluegrass music, with it's strong focus on the upbeat, seem like a perfect fit for me. I've played blues harp all my life, and over the years attempted playing it with bluegrass and celtic music. I don't play a lot of harp in this band, but I certainly love the times when I can put down the uke and just blow! I've mostly been in rock bands but I've also sung in a few funk and R&B bands. My father is a jazz guitarist, who still plays in bands himself on occasion, and my mother's a singer in her own right. So I grew up singing around the house and in the car. Thank you, Mom and Dad!. I believe I owe my odd rhythms as much to jazz as I do to funk and rock, although I admit that my "ear" is broken by too much exposure to players like Miles Davis and Ornette Coleman. I simply don't hear bad notes anymore, they all just sound like colorful tension waiting to resolve! But like most of my generation, rock's where it's at for me. As a free and open genre, it's based more on gutteral emotion than any strict format. I love upbeat, bubblegum punk, and have even tried to incorporate covers of some of those types of Songs into our set list. I'm a big fan of re-interpretation. I always ask myself, "How would the Carter Family play this rock song? How would AC/DC cover this bluegrass song?" The approach allows for a very personal artistic expression even though it's not my own material, and I love that. I think we come up with covers that are respectful to the original recordings, yet are different enough to sound fresh. Hopefully they're covers that will appeal to the rockers and the grassers alike! Despite my musical roots, the music I've written has always been more in the melodic americana vein. I'm currently the principal song writer for the band, but I'm really looking forward to working on the contributions of other members and writing music collectively as a band. For those interested, I build and tweak musical instruments and gear. You can check them out on my personal page (link above)!   My grandfather once told me "If it can be done, you can figure it out and do it."  It's one of the things that stuck with me my entire life, and a primary reason I got into woodworking and just about any other endeavor I have no formal training in.  My grandfather built his own house by hand, except for digging out the basement, which my grandmother convinced him he should hire someone to do for him.  In many ways he's been a role model for me throughout my life.  He worked on the river boats along the Mississippi and got a reputation for being someone who could get a lot accomplished with minimal tools or supervision (he CARVED his and my grandmothers bas-relief engagement rings out of pipe by hand!).  Eventually his reputation led him to a job in the Army Corp of Engineers which led him to Oak Ridge in late '42.  But I could go on and on about Mannie Baumann.  Meet at a gig sometime and I'll relay some of his stories to you!

For booking, review our booking page and then contact Andy at 865-640-5704 or FrostBottomBoys@gmail.com